


How to Have Fun in Quarantine at the UN

by goreds



Category: The Expanse (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pandemic - Freeform, Plague, Polyamorous Character, Pre-Canon, Quarantine, epidemic, fictional pandemic/epidemic, i can't write porn i can only imply it, talk of social distancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:01:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goreds/pseuds/goreds
Summary: Chrisjen Avasarala and the whole of the United Nations, including Sadavir Errinwright, are on lockdown during a pandemic. Mild non-social distancing ensues.
Relationships: Arjun/Chrisjen Avasarala, Chrisjen Avasarala/Sadavir Errinwright
Kudos: 15
Collections: Lock Down Fest





	How to Have Fun in Quarantine at the UN

**Author's Note:**

> This work deals lightly with a fictional plague/pandemic/epidemic far in the future. This work takes place a few years before the series begins.

It started small.

Just a flu-like virus which started in the lower levels of New York. Easily contained.

Except the current Secretary-General, one in a long line of bobbleheads, didn’t take it seriously, despite all the warnings from his public health advisors, and Chrisjen Avasarala herself.

So, it spread. It spread across the globe, and even their advanced medicine couldn’t take care of it easily, or well. The Sec-Gen finally took it seriously and started locking down New York, which considering its sizable homeless population, didn’t really help anything. It still kept spreading. Finally, one of his aides came down with it.

And that is how the entirety of the senior staff of the United Nations ended up isolated and quarantined in the United Nations' main building. They could talk to one another, and sure, they could communicate with their loved ones back home through comm screens and hand terminals, but it wasn’t the same. They couldn’t go outside, they couldn’t go to dinner, and most importantly, to Chrisjen, they couldn’t go home.

Arjun and her grandchildren were fine, of course, living in a relatively remote location. The children could entertain themselves when they weren’t doing schoolwork, and Arjun could teach his poetry classes from afar.

But Chrisjen was easily stressed in situations she could not control. They had to wait for the virus to die out, and that could be months or even years. The years scenario was predicted by the more extreme public health officials. Chrisjen wanted Sec-Gen Rosario to step down, let Undersecretary Esteban Sorrento-Gillis take his place, but Rosario was determined to stay on. Eh, Esteban was just as much a bobblehead. But a more compassionate bobblehead, anyway.

It had only been a week of proper quarantine. It was a rainy day, so there was no sun to come through the windows to at least try to brighten up Chrisjen’s day.

She started her day with the regular call to Arjun. _Hello dear, how are you doing, how are the children, no symptoms? Good._ She wanted to hug and kiss Arjun and sleep in the same bed as him, not just talk to him through a screen.

Chrisjen had to admit she was going stir-crazy. She took comfort in sitting next to Sadavir Errinwright, her only real friend in all of this. As Deputy Undersecretary, he had slightly more pull with Rosario, but only slightly. If Esteban became Sec-Gen, then he would rise, and so would she, and maybe she could do more to help. She would mutter obscenities to Sadavir or type rants on her hand terminal and swipe them over to his, and he’d just softly chuckle.

Chrisjen knew he was worried about his son, who was in San Francisco with his mother, transported after this all started going down. Jefferson was a good kid, even if he took after his mother in looks and temperament. Sadavir didn’t say anything about how either of them was doing, so Chrisjen assumed they were doing alright.

Anyway, if she could bring a smile to his face, she felt like she was doing one thing right. Her rant today was this: _We should increase fucking Basic during all of this and open more housing and be building emergency hospitals and authorize the fleet to become medical ships but no, we’re counting on the fucking doctors to figure this out when they have had weeks to figure this shit out. Fucking bobbleheads, the lot of them._ Chrisjen swiped her message to Sadavir, who sent one right back.

_Technically, we’re all “fucking bobbleheads” at this point._

_What would you do, if you could get out of here?_

_Go to San Francisco. Jefferson’s sick._

Chrisjen looked at Sadavir with alarm, but he just shrugged. Jefferson went from one city to another city, he seemed to say with the gesture--he was bound to get infected sooner or later.

The meeting ended. Chrisjen had to admit she didn’t really follow any of what was going on, only that it was the same shit they had been trying for a month now, which wasn’t working.

She and Sadavir exited together in silence. Sadavir was clearly in a different place, mentally. Chrisjen took his arm.

“How about we raid my supply of drink in my office and throw a party for two?”

Sadavir cocks an eyebrow. “There’s a plague on, and you want to throw a party?”

“Figure of speech. I meant, ‘let’s get hammered and forget about what we can do nothing about’.”

Sadavir doesn’t smile, but he nods.

They go to her office, and Chrisjen picks out her finest, most expensive bottle of whiskey. Sadavir takes a bottle of her cheaper vodka.

“You sure you don’t want something better?”

“We don’t know how long this is going to last. Might as well save the good stuff.”

He has a point. Chrisjen puts the bottle of fine whiskey back and picks out a cheaper one.

“Do we stay here, or...?” Chrisjen indicates upstairs, to the diplomatic suites.

Chrisjen and Sadavir end up only slightly tipsy from the cheap alcohol they took. Chrisjen broaches the subject of Jefferson once he seems lubricated enough.

“How bad is he? Jefferson, I mean?”

“Not terrible. He’s mostly just miserable. Not just because of the illness--”

“--Jodie.” Oh, Sadavir’s frighteningly scattered ex-wife.

“She’s apparently fully embraced motherhood. By which I mean she's smothering him. Which is unusual, considering.”

“Jodie wasn’t a perfect mother, but at least she’s trying.” Chrisjen would know a few things about not being a perfect mother. If Charanpal was here...but he’s not. Probably a good thing. “Let’s talk about something fun. Like Rosario finally getting kicked out once this is over.”

“Or before.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been pushing Esteban to call for a vote of no-confidence in Rosario. He’s still not comfortable with the idea, but he’s coming around. Very slowly.”

“Oh, I could kiss you.”

Sadavir’s face tells her that that wouldn’t be entirely unwelcome, at this point. Well, they’ve messed around before.

“Except I might get you sick.”

“You’d be showing symptoms at this point.”

“You might not. You could be just fine and still be passing it along. How about you make out with Rosario?” Chrisjen chuckles at her own dark joke.

“Nah, I don’t like beards.” Sadavir scrunches his nose. Then, they both explode with laughter. They keep going until there’s a knock at the door.

It’s Esteban. “Ah...hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He eyes the alcohol and the two of them, separated only by Chrisjen’s coffee table.

“You’re not.” Sadavir straightens himself. “Did you make your decision?”

“Yes. I will do...it tomorrow.”

“Fuck yes!” Chrisjen cheers. Then, she restrains herself when she sees Esteban paling. He hadn’t said he was calling a no-confidence vote specifically, now had he?

“You told her?” Esteban says pointedly to Sadavir.

Sadavir just smiles at Chrisjen. “She deserves to know. She’ll be Deputy Undersecretary when this is all over.”

Esteban just gives a nervous nod. “Well, I’ll be going now. Have fun. I guess.”

“Wait a second, Esteban,” Chrisjen says with a mischievous smile. Then she leans across the table, social distancing be damned, and plants one of Sadavir. He’s taken aback clearly.

Esteban splutters before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

Chrisjen breaks the kiss, dissolving into very uncharacteristic giggles.

“You clearly enjoyed that,” Sadavir says, enjoying it too.

Chrisjen nods. “Now, what are we going to do about this?”

“Well, I don’t think Esteban will tell anybody--”

“I didn’t mean that, idiot.” Chrisjen practically twinkles at him.

“Arjun--”

“Arjun knows we’ve messed around before. He doesn’t mind. Part of being a diplomat these days.”

“Okay, but if you get me sick, or I get you sick--”

“Then we’ll nurse each other back to health, and we won’t have to sit through any more pointless meetings for a while. C’mon.” Chrisjen stands and extends her hand to Sadavir. He takes it.

The two head off to her bedroom. She’ll tell Arjun again, and he’ll understand. He wouldn’t want his wife emerging from quarantine completely batshit...just the normal level of batshit.


End file.
